This invention relates to methods and apparatus for packaging paper rolls, and in particular to a method and apparatus for packaging a plurality of cylindrical paper rolls in a compressed state.
Cylindrical paper rolls, such as toilet paper or paper towels, are formed with hollow cores, and are quite typically packaged in groups of multiple rolls encased in a plastic film. Machinery for doing so has been manufactured for many years by Hayssen Manufacturing Company, assignee of the present application, under the "ULTRAFLOW" trademark.
Typically, roll wrapping machinery of the nature of the present application comprises an in-feed conveyor where rolls are introduced to the machine, followed by a forming shoulder overhead, where rolls are aligned and conveyed forwardly to a forming shoulder, where the rolls are introduced into a perforated elongated plastic film which has been formed into a tube. The film is longitudinally sealed, and is advanced with the entrained product to a separating apparatus, where the tube is periodically severed along the perforation lines into individual packages. The open ends of the packages are then tucked and sealed to complete the package.
While such machinery provides very satisfactory packages and is in use worldwide, one detriment of any such equipment is the fact that the rolls being packaged have hollow cores and are cylindrical, and therefore quite a quantity of dead space is packaged along with the rolls. The object of the present application is to eliminate as much dead space as possible by precompressing the rolls and packaging the rolls in a compressed state.